Weekend Reads: Why childhood disadvantages hurt young boys more than girls

  • A new poll suggests that a large majority of Americans think that the nation should do more to expand access to early childhood education, and a plurality think we should invest more in early learning than in college. The Atlantic
  • A recent landmark study out of Tennessee calls into question the power of pre-K programs, but advocates say quality is key. Chalkbeat
  • A decade after the first state-run school district was started in Louisiana, the track record for existing turnaround districts is mixed, but more may be on the way. The Hechinger Report
  • New research suggests that childhood disadvantages such as poverty or an unstable family life hurt boys more than girls. The Upshot
  • The flap over language used in a McGraw Hill textbook to describe slaves as “workers” reveals larger problems with the way history is taught in American classrooms. The Atlantic
  • In their latest philanthropic effort in education, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, former teacher Priscilla Chan, are opening a private school aimed at counteracting the toll that poverty takes on children. San Jose Mercury News
  • For many first-year teachers, October and November are the hardest months, but some programs are working to get teachers through the annual rough patch. NPR Ed
  • Sesame Street’s new puppet character with autism is unusual because she’s a girl, a decision that the show’s creators made intentionally to combat impressions that most kids with autism are boys. The Los Angeles Times
  • If you didn’t already know that education-only news outlets do amazing reporting, you’ll get an idea from the story of how Catalyst Chicago broke open the story that eventually led to the former Chicago schools chief pleading guilty to fraud charges. Columbia Journalism Review